St. Anthony Parish has been in a state of constant growth since its founding in 1867. The parish faced a considerable design challenge in that it needed more space for worship, gathering, support and parking, but wished to retain the iconic tower and stone facades that made it a landmark in the community.
The parish developed a facilities master plan that involved keeping the tower, the front and graveyard stone facades and back apse. Within that space, a larger worship space was built featuring reclaimed stone from the demolished walls. The pre-Civil War stonework was exposed and cleaned in the interior of this new section of the church, letting worshippers see the texture, natural color and craftmanship of the original stonework.
This approach to expansion and improvement retained the historic beauty of the church as a community landmark, and trippled seating capacity to 1,000.
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